The Platte County Citizen

PARKVILLE, Mo. — Four families are without a place to call home following a fire in Parkville on Tuesday, Feb. 6.

The Southern Platte Fire District got the call and arrived at the Links apartment complex in the 11200 NW Crooked Road for a call of an odor of smoke.

Crews did not have visible flames upon arrival and some of the residents in the building didn’t even smell it. The call originated from one of the residents in apartment No. 2.

Southern Platte Fire Marshall Dean Cull said there was a fire wall between apartments No. 2 and 3 which housed all of the electrical for all four units, which then feeds each of the units in the two-story dwellings.

CODY THORN/Citizen photoKansas City Fire Department and Southern Platte County Fire District firefighters worked the scene of an apartment fire on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 11200 NW Crooked Road in Parkville, Mo.

Cull said firefighters could smell the smoke and a Kansas City Fire Department battalion chief was doing a walk around when he saw the fire between apartments when the fire broke through the exterior of the structure.

“You’ve got to find the fire, these are hard ones,” Cull said.

Additional units were called to the scene and battled the blaze as temperatures hovered around 20 degrees and wind chills were in the single digits.

Due to the large amount of water being used, the fire departments asked for assistance to salt the roads as the fourplex sat on a slight incline and the water was rolling down the hill on Crooked Road/NW Hogan Drive.

There were 13 people displaced by the fire

Cull said the night of the fire the cause is unknown. It was likely electrical, but he wouldn’t know until he was able to inspect it closer. Attempts to reach Cull for further information in recent days were unsuccessful.

This is the second fire on NW Crooked Road in two months. SPFD battled a blaze at 12405 NW Crooked Road on Dec. 26, 2017.